Tulane University’s often underappreciated men’s and women’s cross country teams have been steadily moving up the NCAA rankings, and it looks as though the trend will be continuing for both teams. Although it is easy for these teams to be overshadowed by other fall sports like football and volleyball, it is time we start paying proper attention to cross country.

The men’s team started the season ranked at No. 25, and have worked their way up to No. 17 in the most recent poll. This past weekend, the team competed in the very competitive Nuttycombe Invitational at the University of Wisconsin. They took 12th place, above five other ranked teams, including No. 1 ranked Iowa State University. 

The men’s team was led by sophomore Bernard Cheruiyot, who finished third overall amongst over 200 runners in the 8-kilometer race, the main event of the meet. Cheruiyot’s impressive performance this past weekend is a continuation of success in his second year at Tulane after leading them to a conference championship last year.

The women’s team started the season unranked, and now find themselves at No. 25 in the most recent poll. This past weekend, they competed at the 2025 Crimson Classic at the University of Alabama. They took 2nd overall place, above 13th-ranked Alabama. They had seven runners place in the top 40 in the main event of the meet, the 6k race. 

These were the last meets for the teams before the American Conference Championships on Nov. 1 in Concord, North Carolina. The exceptional performances of this past weekend will serve as a good segue into the conference championships, where the men’s team will be looking to reclaim their title as conference champions.

As of now, the only other ranked men’s team from the conference is the University of Tulsa, and Tulane’s women’s team is the only American Conference team that is ranked in the Cross Country National Rankings.

New rankings come out every two weeks. There will be new rankings released on Oct. 21.